Earring



June 1950 w. F. MITTENDORF 2,510,511

EARRING I Filed March 29, 1948 /M mum A TTOQNEY Patented June 6, 1950 AE NQW Wil-liarnf; Mittendorfl Needham; Mass -assignor to D sEMakepeaee Company, Attleboro, Ma s'su aeonporationofMassachusetts Anrliiat'ie aliiwhgfl -Se ria Naltfi" 1 Claim-.--- (CI. 6314) The present invention relates to an earring and more r rt cula maa means .iqn. .a iaqh e a rtina i n ea l b e rally .aniea a ri marin a taqheq t n.

ar lobeby as r w typeclam 9r. pihenmeeh nialh mn il fiee a e ose iaszt. iear 10 9- t i iibfii essim areapi heearlebe nirre i a u ac H W- en uer gth thande sired to the; earlobejn order to retainthe earring in-the desired position. Clamping de vices havingsmooth "rounded aces which come in contact with an ear lobe are disadvantageous because an ear-ring comprisingsuch.clamping devices is subject to slipping from the desired position due to the lack of suificient gripping'action which is common to smooth rounded surfaces.

Other yp se .earrin sih y aclamnin means which are dependent upon the inherent resiliency of.. the earring material, i. e material,,for attachment to an ear lobe. h earrings he neli d t nsien is fixed, in. r edbrthe rri -mater and the eight ornamentation which might be expected to be applied to such earring. Furthermore, where resiliency of a material is depended upon for earring clamping purposes, the clamping material is usually non-metallic and as such may not comprise ornamental precious metal.

However, the present invention provides an earring having a resilient metallic material with adjustable tension adapted to securely clamp the earring to an ear lobe with minimum pressure in the ear lobe.

It is an object of this invention to provide an earring adapted to remain securely attached to the ear lobe with a minimum pressure on the ear lobe. It is another object of this invention to provide an earring comprising a resilient metallic material having an adjustable tension. It is a further object of this invention to provide an earring having a minimum of parts for easier manufacture. Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the description thereof hereinafter following:

The invention is illustrated in the drawings forming part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a, perspective elevational view of an.

hicm ua mau e nsi hea water smal ndt lte nehhxa c wt pe 1 distillat on this a ri it ss met zne n sesame z e vga re te vtension 2' earring constructed in accordance with this 1nvention Figure 2 is an enlargedsectignal -yiew taken le a n o i s ei ea d Figure 3 isaperspective elevational view of an n ho anoih r mbod m n Q i ventionl The present invention provides an earring c nlike. a r n s s h i fe .man a tured whieh'asher i s i i e eb of e t. is a eq shes 19 a y q m eri b su e the ear lobe brought about by a large t'n sion'on a small area of the ear lobe, "alleviates discomfort to the wearer by causing a minimum pres re on subsiani al ii ar e rea of n lobe at h same t me. fi efli s s u .a to h ea l be.-

e ii re 1; liha s shqwn an ear n honta t r a s. re 1 "lar r eeu yt i dhe to;a substantiallyglarge portion of an ear lobe; h te io n cessar f aieihe e rrin i P itiq ...i r9 d sl1iQ f b s lient. m t r haee tq di e a s r es tensi n u' a e .l and i uch ma er al be ng t i rmp aff n h p d tr #19? ahe llii mkc e r a le wh s i fie wai es. w uemetalj n a ere r alle a rqv ee v hehe y li m i e e l y ma mn is lf .,a 2Q t' /2%: .a d t.

eryllium with-a preferred be'r'y lhum-copper alloy comprising 1 5 to 2% bery'11ii1m'. The

contact plates, more particularly the faces of the contact plates adjacent to the ear lobe, are provided with horizontal corrugations or ribs 4 in order to impart thereto a greater grip to prevent any possible slipping of the earring from the ear lobe. All surfaces of the plates l and 2 or only the outer surfaces may be coated with metal similar to the coating of the ring-shaped structure 3. Although the plates l and 7. may be attached to the ring-shaped structure by welding or by other methods of attachment, they may also be integral therewith and the basic assembly may be blanked out of flatstock composite material of precious metal and beryllium-copper alloy prior to the formation of the ring-shaped structure. An indentation 5 is impressed into the strip 3 while in the flatstock stage to increase the spring tension of the material. The forming of the indentation produces a, corresponding ridge 5' on the opposite side of the flat stock material and such indentation may be provided for either the outer or inner surface of the ring-shaped structure subsequently formed therefrom. The indentation 5 and ridge 5' are shown in section in Figure 2, where the composition of the finished composite material is also more clearly illustrated in relation to the coating of beryllium-copper 6 with precious metal 1. Although the indentation is specifically illustrated as V-shaped, it may also be U-shaped or the like, and the strip material may comprise a plurality of such indentations. The indentation eifect in the strip material, once the proper amount of tension has been established, will maintain the desired tension. The fact that beryllium-copper can be hardened to have a great deal of spring tension, and that with indentations impressed into the beryllium-copper strip material the spring tension is further aided so that it may be maintained in spite of very frequent flexings or continued pressure while on the ear lobe, provides the basis for an earring according to this invention.

In Figure 3, I have illustrated another embodiment of this invention by providing a wire ringshaped structure 8 having an inherent tension adapted to keep the contact plates in adherence to an ear lobe. The ring-shaped wire structure may be formed from electroplated wire, or from wire on which precious metals are laminated, said wire structure having the qualities and composition as more particularly described in accordance with the strip material of Figure 1. The ends of the wire used to form the ring-shaped structure may have contact plates welded or soldered thereto, or they may be flattened out to make the gripping sections or plates integral therewith.

The resilient material, 1. e. beryllium-copper in accordance with this invention, has such physical properties that the spring tension of such material provided for a minimum tension necessary to keep the earring in position and support the weight of the earring and any ornament attached thereto. The finished article can be adjusted to meet individual tension requirements by simply pressing the ring-shaped structure to have the corrugated surfaces of both contact plates meet when greater tension is required, and the contact plates may be spread in opposing directions to create a lesser tension if required. The adjusted tensions will maintain the desired resiliency.

- The earring of this invention is distinguished from other types of resilient materials, such as plastics, whereby in such other materials the product is manufactured to provide a maximum fixed tension to keep an earring in position, such tension being adapted to support a maximum weight, i. e. earring and supplementary ornaments, and which does not possess an adjustable tension.

Supplementary ornaments may be supported by the earrings of this invention either by attachment to a contact plate I or 2, or by suspension from a mounting on the ring-shaped structure 3.

With reference to the ring-shaped structure, it is also within the scope of the invention to provide a U-shaped structure, a hexagon-shaped structure and the like, so long as the fundamental characteristics of the invention can apply thereto.

An earring manufactured in conformity with the above description has the advantage of being manufactured easily and rapidly and meets the requirements of an article of jewelry in addition to the several advantages hereinbefore set forth.

What I claim is:

A unitary earring comprising spaced plates adapted for contact on opposite sides of an ear lobe, corrugated contact surfaces on each plate with the corrugations running in a substantially horizontal direction, an adjustably spring tensioned depending ring portion connecting said plates, at least the ring portion being formed of an alloy of copper with beryllium hardened to a high degree of spring tension and capable of frequent fiexings to maintain an initially set pressure on the lobe engaging plates, a relatively soft precious metal coating for said alloy that does not affect the tension and flexing qualities thereof, and said ring shaped portion being fiat and having a longitudinally extending indentation on one side and a corresponding rib on the other that lie out of the plane of the fiat portion.

WILLIAM F. MITTENDORF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,351,925 Chernow June 20, 1944 2,354,409 Strasser July 25, 1944 2,389,295 Chernow Nov. 20, 1945 2,389,481 Bazner Nov. 20, 1945 

